About our Potato Peel Collection – first created in 2011

From Livinglife Article by Caroline Mauger, 2012

Athene began to photograph potato peelings and sketch their shapes, then beat and manipulated the silver until it took on the texture and look of real peelings. She then developed her idea further to produce versions which were aesthetically pleasing, but more stylised. Athene uses potato pearls in many of her designs; these do not have the uniform shape of regular pearls and they really do resemble miniature potatoes. They can be any colour but Athene’s favourite is grey as it’s less obvious than brown = and it goes with everything’.

When Athene showed her work to the Literary Festival organisers they were delighted. But one of the members raised the issue of copyright, something the designer had not considered as her work is usually commissioned. After seeking legal advice she decided to bite the bullet and contact Annie Barrows directly. Annie was charmed by the idea and was happy to give Athene’s work her official approval. As a thank you, Athene gave Annie a beautiful pair of earrings when she visited Guernsey.

Of Athene’s designs, Annie says, ‘I think they are lovely – she has created a subtle and elegant interpretation of the book’s theme’s’. Athene could now go down the route of mass production but she wants to continue making her jewellery by hand. ‘Every single piece is individual’ she adds.